Prayer this week
We invite you to pray with us. Here are some of the things we are asking God about this week...
Five weeks to pray for Regional Conference- June 22-24
Our regional conference is always a time to share vision and learn together. Its great to connect with people you went to school with and catch up on their lives and ministries. Its also an opportunity to meet God together in a way that can shape our future. Let's take this next five weeks and pray for those attending conference that it will be impactful and refreshing. Here is a guide for prayer that you can use personally or share with your prayer team at church.
Week 1-May 16-22
Focus: Content and Preparation. This conference is called Rooted. Colossians 2:6-7 says: "You recieved Christ Jesus as Lord. So keep on living in Him. have your roots in Him. Build yourselves up in Him. Grow strong in what you believe, just as you were taught. Be more thankful than ever before. Make sure no one captures you." Lets pray for a renewed desire to root ourselves in Jesus. Pray that God will give us new tenacity and strength to stand strong in the storms of life and ministry. Ask Him for nourishment to reach higher and press in to Him. Bless the time we have in the Word . Ask Him to give us new hunger for prayer and new faith to believe it will make a difference. Pray that He will give us fruitfulness in our personal lives- that we will more closely resemble Him in the way we speak, think and treat each other. Ask Him for fruitfulness in ministry, that together we can see a new wave of people coming to Him. Pray that the Holy Spirit will craft each presentation as its being prepared. Ask Him to have access to every event planned and every heart attending. Pray especially for the staff at the regional office this week: Gary Emery (hosting and speaking, running business meetings as our regional superintendant, Vicki Adams (Conference coordinator, preparing all conference materials, and scheduling events and working as a liason with the hotel personnel. In her spare time she is mother to two teenage boys and twin toddler boys! She and her husband Rob are currently pastoring a church they planted last year. Pray for her sleep and stamina these last five weeks before conference), Tim Zakarian (regional youth director, coordinating onsite conference room set up and all youth related activities. Tim and his wife Tina have planted a church this year called Waypoint. He is serving the region as well as pastoring this year and they welcome prayer for very full calenders and lots of ministry opportunities. Ask God for continued strength and courage to pursue His dreams for them.), Janet Fox (she had an emergency gall bladder surgery last week and will not attend. She will be off work for five weeks. Pray for her speedy recovery), Scott Alsperger- onsite set up of all computer driven audio/visual in the conference room. Ask God to help Scott and the crew that sets all this up to have everything they need, no missing or damaged equipment, no lost computer files or gliches, and for the physical strength to pack up, transport and set up all that equipment!
Week 2- May 23-29
Focus: Speakers and Presenters
Wayne Cordiero-Chancellor at EBC and Pastor of New Hope Churches of Hawaii. Wayne and his wife Anna are precious friends and mentors to Open Bible pastors and EBC. They have seen amazing fruit in Hawaii as over 53000 people have come to Christ through New Hope Ministries. We are blessed to have Wayne speaking at conference this year. Pray for them as they have a challenging schedule and dizzying array of ministry opportunities and speaking engagements across the country. Ask God to give them good health and good sleep these next five weeks. Pray for a revelatory anointing to see what the Holy Spirit is doing at EBC. Ask God to put His words in Wayne's mouth for our conference sessions. These are shaping times for our movement and we want the Holy Spirit to be our guide and mentor, teaching us and filling our leaders with wisdom and grace for the things He has called us to do. Pray that Wayne and Anna find refreshing times at conference and come back filled with hope, peace and new vision.
Bill Hoyt- Executive Coach and Organizational Strategist for Nextstep Coaching and Organizational Development. Over the past two years Bill has been part of the team that has provided coaching and training for our consultation initiative. He has led cluster groups and conducted several church consultations in the Pacific region. He brings over 35 years experience in teaching communication and leadership and has served on 13 corporate boards. Pray that out of that vast store of potential teachings, God selects the "record" and plays it for all of us to hear. ( Like a juke box selection!) Ask Him to grant Bill all the influence and strength he needs to minister to leaders. This can be exhausting but God can refresh him as he fulfills the call He has on his life. Pray that this word will not go out void but will hit the target that God was aiming for- our hearts and minds! Ask God to move over us by His Holy Spirit to empower our own influence and leadership as we allow Him to shape the way we approach our own ministry field. Continue to bless Bill's travel and his family who are sharing him with us.
Gary Emery- Pacific Region Superintendant. Gary has served as our regional superintendant for 10 years. He is a pastor's pastor and truly loves our pastors and their families. Conference is an opportunity to fellowship with those he serves. He will be speaking the first night on the significance of having our roots deep in Jesus. Pray for him that he will have good health in the weeks leading up to conference. Ask God to permanently deliver him from migraine headaches. Pray for productive days between now and conference. Ask Him to give Gary new vision, and strength of body, mind and character to lead.
Week 3- May 30-June 5
Focus: Conference attendees
Ask God to make "appointments" with those He wants to speak to at conference. Pray that many come and find a loving welcome and deep refreshment. Ask Him to work out details of money, travel plans, transportation, calendar issues and conflicts, etc. Pray that families will be able to leave sports committments, social obligations, and come to conference. Ask Him to create a restful, refreshing invironment for the whole family. Pray for new relationships formed and old ones rekindled. Pray that the childrens programs will bless and minister to the kids as well as the parents. Ask Him for some time to just play! Disneyland will be just across the street!!
Week 4- June 6-12
Focus: Board and Business meeting
In the last few years, we have made a renewed attempt to cover all board meetings and business meetings with prayer. The biblical injunction to pray "for leaders and all who are in authority" is one that we have taken to heart. If we will pray for them, Jesus is ushered into the boardroom and allowed to take His seat as the true Chairman of the Board! Ask Him to set every agenda and to preside over every conversation. Pray that all eyes would be on Him and the prize of seeing more people come to Him. Pray for your district superintendant and ask God to: be the author and finisher of his faith, forge a sterling character, create a warriors heart of loyalty to Him and those he has been asked to serve with, a fresh download of the mind of christ and the clarity to make sound decisions, blessing of peace in their marriage and their church.
Week 5- June 13-19
Focus: Hotel and staff
The conference hotel this year is the Doubletree Guests Suites Anaheim Resort, 2085 South Harbor Blvd.Anaheim, CA 92802. Get out a map and begin to pray over the whole geographic area. Pray all around the hotel and ask for the presence of God to be on the block and in the parking lot. Pray for the hotel specifically and ask God to be in the guestrooms and the conference rooms. Ask Him to prosper their business with higher than normal revenue for this week. Pray for the staff that will serve us and ask God to bless them. Ask God to bring them to Him by the way we treat each other. Ask God to sanctify the facility and give us a clean slate on which to write His story. Pray for reservations to be held and not to become confused or to be given to someone else. Ask Him for patience for all our attendees and an awareness of the "soul condition" of those who are serving us. Pray a blessing over the "comings and goings" of the hotel, that no one would go out the same way they came in! Ask Him to release salvation, deliverance and anointing over the whole place.
Week of- June 20-26
Focus: Fasting and Prayer
Ask God if He would have you fast a day or two this week. Take time to pray in the spirit, spend a little extra time lingering in His presence and fast. You can skip a meal or a day of meals or go several days without eating. If you have medical reasons not to go without food, you can designate something to go without for the week leading up to conference. For more instructions about fasting, click on the "Learning Prayer" button at the top of the home page. Expect our loving God to hear and answer prayer! This will be our best conference ever!
April 22, 2010
Regional Board Meetings As we prayed today board meetings were going on in the conference room downstairs. We prayed for the board members, asking God for wisdom to make tough decisions. We prayed for new directions and new beginnings for pastors and churches and ministries all over the Pacific region. One of us saw a toll booth with a line of cars backed up waiting to go through. The person in the booth was Jesus, and as each car came to the booth He would say " You cant go further until you get rid of some things." Cars often represent ministries in metaphoric language because they take you some place and allow you to take others with you. We prayed that the Holy Spirit would help us all shed the stuff we pack around, offense, unforgiveness, anger, unkind speech, etc. so that we can move forward in ministry and in life with Him!
Churches needing pastors. Please continue to pray for Roseburg. God has someone in mind for this church and we need to find them. God has wonderfully answered this prayer by bringing Clyde and Shardelle Johnson to pastor Roseburg. They are a great fit for this church and truly feeled called by God to be there. Pray for them as they will commute from Kaizer on the weekends at least during the summer. Ask God to establish them and give them influence in Roseburg. Also be praying with us for Port Angeles. This is a gateway city, with many ways to come and go from our country to Canada. We are believing God for a Gatekeeper pastor, someone who will pastor the community and not just the church.
Janet Fox-secretary at the regional office. Tuesday Janet had what appeared to be a heart attack at work and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. We were praying for her today and after the meeting got word that she did not have an actual heart attack but was experiencing heart palpetations due to severe pain in her shoulder from a torn ligament. We are so thankful that she is going home with no damage to her heart and will be back at work soon! Thank you Jesus! Janet has recently had emergency gall bladder surgery and will not be at work for the next three weeks at least. Ask God to bring her to a place of healing and stability.
Do you ever leave a prayer meeting and feel bad that you talked too much? We spend part of our time sharing things we have been praying for or seeing in prayer. Scriptures that have caught our attention or sometimes things that are heavy on our mind as we come in. Malachi 3:16 says, "Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name."
Feb. 10, 2010
Church Planters
Tim and Tina Zakarian, Springfield, Oregon. We prayed for Tim's leadership team. We asked God to give them the wisdom they need to pick up the weighty responsibilities of caring for people and reaching for the lost ones. We prayed a blessing over their church as they look toward launch date of public services in March. Years of planning and sacrifice for all the launch team families, trying to "flesh out" what they heard Jesus say about Waypoint. It all comes down to launch day. In praying for Tim we had a sense that God had put strong, good dna into the foundation of this church. That people would come to see Jesus. Ask God to hover over the team as they grow closer to launch. Pray that He will do the things only He can do.
Vince McCarty, DesMoines, Iowa Vince came to Eugene this week to visit the bible college but we grabbed him and asked if we could pray for him. His job as director of Missions for Open Bible is full of blessing and responsibility. As we prayed we saw a key and a vault door. We prayed that God would give him the key that would unlock the storehouse God had stocked for Open Bible missions. We prayed personal blessings over him and asked God to give him another dose of wisdom an anointing for a global ministry. Isnt it amazing that God would ask us to partner with Him in prayer for His amazing people?! Please continue to pray for God to show Himself in deliverance, miracles, healing, and salvation. We prayed for Vince that he would have new, enhanced vision to see in the spirit to the horizon, where heaven and earth meet. We asked that he would see God handing down the treasures in heaven to meet the needs on earth. Lets pray that for all our churches. People need Jesus!
February 2, 2010
Church Planters
Reece and Alicia Caouette- Wenatchee, WA This couple moved to Wenatchee to begin building the foundation for a new church using relationships as the cement. They have been enjoying hosting barbeques, hiking groups, sharing celebrations and meals with neighbors and coworkers. Josh and Sarabeth Simmonsen moved several months later and God has given them good jobs and homes to rent and the Simmonsens recently had a baby girl. Lets pray for this church as they are beginning to hold practice services with close friends and launch team members. Ask God to give them wisdom as they make decisions about transitioning up to more structured public services. Pray that His original idea for how this church expresses Jesus to Wenatchee will be preserved. Ask God to give them favor where they need it. Pray that He will guide them to resources they need and the people who need to connect with the God who loves them.
National Board meetings- Des Moines Iowa. Pray for our national board as they meet this week. Ask God to give them safe travel and wise counsel for the decisions they need to make. Pray for mercy for the Farmer family who recently lost their grandma and for Randall Bach (Eastern Region Superintendant) who's mother is very ill in the hospital.
January 27, 2010
Today we prayed for pastors and churches who need funding for strategic projects. New growth and new vision needs new resources! As our churches reach for new influence into their communities and make new opportunities to build relationships and resource needs, some see the need to plan for larger facilities or larger staff. Lets ask God to provide both the money and the wisdom to move forward according to His plans. Pray that we will "Honor the Lord with our possessions and with the first fruits of all our increase, so our barns will be filled with plenty and our vats with new wine." (Prov. 3:9-10) Ask Him to give our pastors and leaders boldness to use what they have according to the stewardship principle seen in the parable of the steward- toreward faithfulness in managing resources, " take from the one who has little and give to the one who has much." (Luke 16) We saw two pictures that helped us pray:
1. An Orchard. The Husbandman is the one who says what gets pruned and how severly. We need to ask Jesus (the husbandman) to tell us how to redistribute resources in our churches to feed those ministries that are bearing fruit. Ask God to prompt us again to abide in the vine. To sit with Him and revitalize our relationship with Him- trusting that He will give direction as to what is pruned, what still has life in it and what gets cut entirely. Is. 48 talks about obeying His commands so He can give us new direction, purpose, fruitfulness, and peace.
2. Hezekiah in the temple, spreading out the threat letters before God. "..we dont know what to do but our eyes are on you." 2 Kings 19 We spread this list of churches on the table and asked God to provide wisdom, finances, and favor.
Three churches in process on buildings: Pastor Ray Trowbridge, Springfield, Oregon. The Bridge purchased their first building this month in a community near where they had been meeting called Coburg. Pray for them as they renovate the building. Ask God to provide funds for their building materials. Pastor Ben Taylor, Gilbert, Arizona. Lord of Life church in Arizona also purchased their first building. It used to be a Walgreens store and recently was retrofitted to be their church by the Mobile Kingdom Builders. Pastor Aaron Sutherland, Redmond, Oregon.
Some churches in need of funds to promote new ministry or add staff: Pastor John Sims, Tacoma, Washington. Pastor Ed Blocker, Big Lake, Alaska. Pastor Bill Hausler, Vacaville, California. Pastor Kent Valentine, Antioch, California.
Brandon Berg and Scott Thomas- Portland, OR Both of these church planters are needing new jobs. Please continue to ask God to order their steps and lead them to the provision He has for them. Brandon recieved a new job working for the State of Washington as an unemployment counsellor. Thankyou for praying for him and his church as they continue to move toward public services.